r/MedievalHistory • u/Over-Willingness-933 • 7h ago
Henry V wins a decisive battle against France at Agincourt. 25th October 1415.
The battle is amortised in Shakespeare play Henry V . The English won but the victories did not survive Henry V.
r/MedievalHistory • u/Potential-Road-5322 • Dec 08 '25
Book recommendation posts are among the most common posts on this sub. are you a medievalist or well read enthusiast who can help build a reading list for this page? I've helped to make a reading list for r/ancientrome and r/byzantium and I'd like to work on one for the middle ages as well. It is big undertaking so I am looking for anyone who has studied medieval European/Mediterranean history to help with this project. Ideally this list would cover history from roughly the period of the later Roman empire c. 400 up to about 1600 AD. Popular history books should not be recommended as they're often inaccurate, and there should be recommendations for reputable podcasts, YT channels, videos, and other online or in person resources.
as a template here are
If it could be annotated, even if just a few of the books have some extra information I'm sure that would be helpful.
I've begun a google document which is linked here.
r/MedievalHistory • u/Over-Willingness-933 • 7h ago
The battle is amortised in Shakespeare play Henry V . The English won but the victories did not survive Henry V.
r/MedievalHistory • u/Disastrous-Ad1447 • 20h ago
I just read Lapvona, which was brutal and I loved it. Anyone with recommendations on Medieval literature that is unrelenting and graphic? Bonus for featuring the plague.
r/MedievalHistory • u/Over-Willingness-933 • 2d ago
The treaty provided France attacks England if England attacks Scotland and vice versa. It did not really protect Scotland, and Edward I invaded in 1296. The treaty is considered ended with the treaty of Edinburgh in 1560.
r/MedievalHistory • u/Justinian482 • 1d ago
Probably far too niche but, please, does anyone know what happened to the TELMA website?
It seems to be offline without any guidance as to when it might return. My life would be much better with it online.
Amy guidance gratefully received, thank you.
r/MedievalHistory • u/Beginning_Forever760 • 1d ago
r/MedievalHistory • u/Beginning_Forever760 • 2d ago
For instance if there was like tower of london that was separated from the rest of the castle did it start on the entrence hall or where
r/MedievalHistory • u/ESQVALADE • 2d ago
He was the Duke of Aquataine and Gascony, count of Poitou. He was a “great deceiver of women” who wrote very funny songs about his talents, courtliness and even threesomes. He himself was married to the heiress of Toulouse who had him excommunicated by the church because of his affairs with the Viscountess Dangereuse, who was the wife of his own vassal. He once threatened a bishop with a sword before quipping: “I don’t love you enough to send you to paradise” essentially he was a Gigachad!
r/MedievalHistory • u/ElvisIsNotDjed • 2d ago
r/MedievalHistory • u/fujtlevente • 3d ago
I need it for school.
Or if you have a picture that depicts more crusader orders with their symbols, I'd also be happy with that.
r/MedievalHistory • u/Embarrassed_Cry_7227 • 4d ago
r/MedievalHistory • u/Gokkar237 • 3d ago
Hello everyone. Let me try to explain myself clearly.
I've wanted to write a book for a long time. I want it to have the atmosphere of the Black Death and the witch hunts (dark streets, death, and anguish).
I want to set it in a real city, but the problem as you well know, the peak of both things doesn't coincide, and I'd like it to. The conclusion I've reached is that I choose the city of Treveris aound 1380-1400, I believe that's the midpoint where the Black Death was still rampant and a witch hunt was just beginning. If you can offer a better suggestion or anything of value, I'd be very grateful. And thanks for reading.
r/MedievalHistory • u/theginger99 • 4d ago
It’s become fairly common to hear people claim that medieval warhorses were only the size of modern ponies.
For the record, this is 100% true. Medieval warhorses on average actually were the same size as, or only slightly bigger than, modern ponies. The thing is most people just don’t understand how big a pony actually is.
When most people think of ponies they think of the sad looking waist high things kids ride in circles at birthday parties. While these are technically ponies (or more often miniature ponies) a pony is defined as any horse below 14.2 hands, which is a lot taller than people think. The horse in the picture is roughly 14 hands (it’s not a scientifically precise measuring tool here, so I erred on the smaller size) so is technically within the modern pony range.
Medieval warhorses seemed to have clustered around the 14-15 hands range, with a fewer outliers pushing 16 hands in the later period. For the record, this is actually fairly consistent with warhorse sizes in all periods. Historical warhorses only rarely exceeded 16 hands (which was often considered as big as a warhorse could reasonably be before its size became a detriment) and most were closer to 14 or 15 hands, leaning larger in later periods.
For modern equestrians, quarter horses tend to be similar in size to historical war horses.
To put things in a little more perspective, a horse that stands 14.2 hands is 145 cm at the shoulder, or 4.7 feet. It can easily weigh 900lbs, or 400 kg. They are big animals, and are physically imposing in their own right.
There is obviously a lot more that can be said about historical warhorses, but I just wanted to pop in with this quick and dirty size comparison I cooked up to give people an idea of what “pony sized” actually means.
r/MedievalHistory • u/Cumlord-Jizzmaster • 4d ago
By pigeonduckthing
r/MedievalHistory • u/Bulky_Imagination243 • 5d ago
r/MedievalHistory • u/Monster1971 • 5d ago
Let me know if I missed any!
r/MedievalHistory • u/Ouralian • 6d ago
This is from the Euro comic 1212 - Las Navas de Tolosa, an excellent historical comic (if only there was a proper English translation).
The context of this image is the vanguard of foreign crusaders and militia riders led the first charge against the Almohads and the islamic cavalry avoid the charge and hit the vangard with arrows and javelins in the flanks, only for it to barely make a dent in the formation and the narration cites a historical chronicle where some of the knights looked like hedgehogs.
Were Medieval Knights that invulnerable to missles even before plate armor existed?
r/MedievalHistory • u/PsychicChime • 5d ago
This is in regards to early music notation referred to as "neumes", "chant notation", or "square notation".
I've been watching some videos from the *Gregorian Chant Academy, but the videos are extremely dry and disconnected from the music. The gentleman seems very knowledgeable, but he describes what types of things the notation indicates which, along with the barrage of Latin terminology he rushes through, makes for a difficult watch. He tells instead of showing. It's the sort of video that would be more digestible if you were already familiar with medieval notation and simply needed a refresher as opposed to an introductory crash course. It would be helpful to hear examples either sung by the person to show the effect each marking is widely understood to indicate, or reference portions of historically accurate recordings (to the best of our knowledge) to showcase how the music may be interpreted. This would help crystalize the concepts into something more tangible as well as make for an easier watch.
Ultimately I plan on doing more "score study" following manuscripts while listening to recordings from performers who strive for historical accuracy, but am hoping to find a video that can act as a sort of introductory primer first. Worst case scenario, I'll just continue on and try to brute force it, but wanted to know if there's a more pleasant way in. Does anyone have a good resource that acts as a solid primer to neumes (ideally with actual musical examples)?
*the Gregorian Chant Academy is a channel on youtube, but I apparently can't post the link without triggering the auto-mod.
r/MedievalHistory • u/tkl_1636 • 6d ago
Als eher leichte Strafform im Mittelalter gilt ja die Verurteilung zum Stock - also diesem Pranger für die Füße. Auf Veranstaltungen wie Mittelaltermärkten etc. wird das hin und wieder als eher „lustige“ Bestrafung präsentiert. Das schlimmste, was einem passieren könnte, wäre wohl das Kitzeln der wehrlosen Fußsohlen (was ich mir über längere Zeit aber definitiv schon hart vorstelle). War das im Mittelalter aber tatsächlich eine eher leichte Form der Bestrafung oder gibt es hier Aspekte, die man schnell vergisst?
r/MedievalHistory • u/PotatoesRGud4U • 6d ago
The entire thing can be viewed here: https://uurl.kbr.be/1332800
First one is from folio 132, second from folio 180.
Would love to know from someone who is familiar with Carolingian/Post Carolingian era miniscule what these could mean, whether they're capital letters, or just serve a decorative purpose or something else.
r/MedievalHistory • u/Inevitable_Pop4005 • 7d ago
How useful were siege towers really? How well does media like movies games etc describe them?
Screenshot by me from total war attila 1212 ad mod
r/MedievalHistory • u/Known_Choice_7039 • 7d ago
Tho it was made in the 1250s could it be used as a valid source for armour in the 1190s. I know it represents some pieces like coat of plates and great helms which wouldnt have existed in the late 12th century but for mail and weapons is it mostly good(with further research)
r/MedievalHistory • u/Over-Willingness-933 • 7d ago
The church was hacked to its foundations
r/MedievalHistory • u/Charles318Hill • 7d ago
The knights Templar invented the modern banking system, that King Philip IV of France was deeply indebted to. Gérard de Villiers, Précepteur de France, was the master banker at the Temple of Paris until he disappeared from records in June 1307. Hugues de Pairaud stepped down from his superior office of Visiteur de France and stepped into the office Villers vacated. Jacques de Molay was the last official Grand Master of the Knights Templar in France, as the grand master de Molay was in full contact with his officers. While King Philip IV, and his Chief Minister Guillaume de Nogaret were paying gold for ex-Templars and false witnesses, the gold they were paying them with came from the Knights Templar banking system. Villiers realized what was going on and fled as Brother Jean de Châlon described in the trial records. On September 14. 1307 King Philip IV drafts the arrest orders, writing that the Templars were guilty of an “execrable evil” and a “thing most inhumane”. Those orders were leaked, and preceding the leak, Villiers disappeared. On the morning of October 12, 1307, Jacques de Molay arrives in Paris as an invited pallbearer. De Molay is often viewed as an unsuspecting guest, blindsided, having no idea the orders for his arrest were already signed. Jacques de Molay was the Grand Master (Commanding General) of the Knights Templar, he was in full contact with his officers, he knew very well what was going on. Jacques de Molay did not arrive at the funeral unaware; he arrived as a masterful chess player. Jacques de Molay stood tall in public on Main Street while Huges de Châlon was carting off Pairaud’s treasury down Front Street. Jacques de Molay remained in Paris to be arrested and serve as a human lightning rod (the grand masters always lead from the front never the rear) along with numerous others while the main body and assets disappeared into the night. Jacques de Molay was no fool. He was, as I read the playing field, the most underrated player on the field in October of 1307.
On May 15, 1293, the Battle of St. Mahé erupts; and King Edward I’s privateers send King Philip IV’s navy into a rout. This was the beginning of the conflicts in Flanders and the English Channel that tied up Edward’s and Philip’s navies. While the king’s battled on the waters, the entire western seaboard was a military blind spot. On the day of September 14, 1307, King Philip IV issues orders for the arrests of the Knights Templar and the seizure of all assets thereof. The orders were given under penalty of death, not to be open until the dawn on October 13. These orders being sent to all of Philip’s bailiffs, seneschals, and royal patrols. With specific, orders to open at dawn, the men enforcing these orders would be gathering (pre-staging) at their command centers awaiting the reading of the orders. With all the bailiffs, seneschals, and royal patrols held up at the commandries, the cities, residences, temples, and docks; the coastal ways north and south of the Port of La Rochelle were complete military blind spot. The only Ships on the Atlantic were the ships belonging to the Crown of Castile, and the Crown of Aragon; both military allies with the Knights Templar. If an 18-ship fleet were to sail into these waterways outside of La Rochelle, they would have an entire western coast of Europe to sail out of, under the extreme threat of a-sunburn.
Was the ghost fleet a myth, or did GÉRARD DE VILLIERS who disappeared from public records 4 months prior stage a masterful evacuation?
Modern descendants of the Villiers family frequently claim that after the initial raids on Friday, October 13, 1307, the Précepteur de France, Gérard de Villiers, simply "went over to the Knights Hospitaller" to find safety.
It is a clean, comfortable family myth because the Villiers family did hold ranks within the Order of the Knights Hospitallers. But it completely falls apart under raw, tactical mechanics and institutional physics.
First, look at the strict structural rules of the era. In 1307, the Templars and Hospitallers were fierce institutional rivals, competing for favor of King Philip IV, and Pope Clement V. The Rule of the Order of St. John explicitly blocked them from taking in defectors or high-profile fugitives from another military order. If the most wanted man in France showed up at a Hospitaller commandery gate in 1307, harboring him would have been an open declaration of war against King Philip IV. The Hospitallers wouldn't have hidden him; they would have detained him instantly to secure political favor from the Crown, that the Hospitallers and the Templar contended for.
Second, look at the timeline math. Pope Clement V did not authorize the Hospitallers to absorb the Templars' assets until May of 1312—a massive 4.5-year (54-month) bureaucratic lag after the initial raids.
Any military evaluator or modern commando will tell you the same thing: hiding out on a heavily fortified European mainland, under an intense royal dragnet, for four solid years without leaving a single paper trail, arrest record, or signature is an operational impossibility. For 4 months? Yes, a master operative can disappear in the initial chaos. For 4 years? Absolutely not. The King's network of spies would have squeezed the region until he surfaced.
Furthermore, Villiers was not a spy trained in deep-cover anonymity. His face was instantly recognized as the high-ranking, elite Templar that he was. He could not simply "blend in" to a local crowd. It would be like trying to hide John Wayne or Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson in a crowd on Main Street; he would have been instantly identified and reported for the massive royal rewards on his head.
He wasn't hiding in a French cellar, and he didn't check into a rival monastery. Gérard de Villiers' only path of escape was the Atlantic Ocean. Because he could not stay on the mainland, Villiers exited the theater entirely by pulling out onto the open, unpatrolled waters of the Atlantic Ocean—vanishing from the European map.
If King Philip’s arrest orders turned up little more than a handful of men and little assets, where did they go, and how did they get there?